Newcastle’s hunt for a new striker, or strikers, is likely to start gathering momentum in the coming weeks as Alan Pardew will get his hands on a significant amount of spending money. Pardew will have a list of potential targets written out and he will no doubt spend the next few weeks narrowing his search down to his top priorities. Whether Chelsea forward Daniel Sturridge is on Pardew’s wish list is unknown, but I’m sure Pardew will be well aware of the news that Sturridge has spoken out over his desire to play regular first team football next season, something which Chelsea may not be able to give him. The news has already alerted other admirers of Sturridge and two teams in particular have got tabs on the England U21 man, they are Tottenham and Bolton. This got me pondering over the idea – if Sturridge leaves West London this summer would Bolton, Tottenham or Newcastle represent the best move for the player? 

I instantly ruled Tottenham out of the equation, as there would be a very strong possibility that Sturridge could find himself in a similar situation to the one he currently finds himself in at Chelsea. Tottenham have Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Rafael Van der Vaart all vying for places in attack and Sturridge would find himself competing for a starting berth. Obviously regardless of where Sturridge goes, he will be competing for a place, but Newcastle and Bolton aren’t blessed with the competition for places that is evident at Spurs. Therefore Sturridge’s quest for regular first team football is likely to be more attainable at the Reebok or St James’ Park.

Newcastle are on the lookout for Andy Carroll’s successor and the fabled number nine shirt is presently awaiting a new owner, to which Sturridge would be a fitting recipient. Bolton are also on the search for a new number nine, as Galatasaray  revealed this week that Johan Elmander has agreed a pre contract with them. Sturridge knows exactly what to expect should he opt for a move to Bolton after spending a successful loan spell with the Trotters this season. He would settle into familiar surroundings and be working with a manager with whom he has clearly already developed a good rapport. A move to Newcastle would represent a new chapter in Sturridge’s career and one which would give him the opportunity to play in front of some of the most passionate supporters in the country. Sturridge would more than likely be either club’s main striking option for next season and he would realise his aspiration for regular first team football.

Singling out which club out of the two would be best for Sturridge is not easy as they are at similar levels in terms of quality, this is supported by the fact that both sides finished the season on 46 points. Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is intent on ensuring Newcastle take strides towards European football next season, so maybe Newcastle’s vision for the future is greater than Bolton’s?

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

However, I’m going to sit on the fence on this one and say a move to either Newcastle or Bolton would represent a step in the right direction for Sturridge’s progression into a top striker. If Chelsea want to keep Sturridge it will all be irrelevant anyway, but a move to Newcastle or Bolton would be the best thing for Sturridge’s career.

Chuck Blazer’s sacking from CONCACAF has been confirmed once more, hours after he was initially relieved from his duties at the federation.In the latest bizarre twist of a simply surreal saga, Blazer has been given his marching orders for the second time in less than six hours, after an email – allegedly sent by Blazer himself – had seemingly seen the 66-year-old saved from the axe as the federation’s general secretary.

Blazer, a member of FIFA’s executive committee, was sent a letter by CONCACAF temporary president Lisle Austin on Tuesday telling him he was no longer required at the federation.

The sacking came less than a week after Blazer accused Asian Football Federation president Mohammed bin Hammam and FIFA vice-president Jack Warner of corruption.

But just hours after news surfaced that Blazer was sacked, CONCACAF released a statement saying he had been re-instated and that Austin did not have the power to remove him.

The bizarre situation was exacerbated when Austin released a statement which rubbished the media release from the federation, and said legal advice was sought before Blazer’s removal.

“I have been made aware of a statement from CONCACAF Media Relations purporting that my actions to terminate Chuck Blazer as General Secretary in my capacity as President (Ag) of CONCACAF were unauthorized,” Austin said in a statement.

“It is instructive to note that the authority of the President to terminate Mr. Blazer rests in the CONCACAF Statutes and was taken after legal advice had been sort.”

“Article 29 of the CONCACAF Statutes states: “The President has the judicial and extrajudicial representation of CONCACAF. Moreover, the Executive Committee has no authority to convene a meeting without having the said meeting called and chaired by the President as articulated by Article 29 which confirms that “The President shall preside over the meetings of the Congress, of the Executive Committee, of the Emergency Committee and of the Committees.”

“The presence of four Executive Committee members in the hotel room of Mr. Blazer does not constitute an Executive Committee meeting.”

“The response from the CONCACAF Media Relations is not only the fruit of illegal actions on the part of Mr. Blazer who is no longer the General Secretary, but is tantamount to trespassing since, the unauthorized use of CONCACAF’s services and equipment by non-CONCACAF staff is unlawful.”

“I can assure you that this is my final statement on this matter, I will not allow myself or this organization to (be) dragged into a tit for tat war in the public domain. The reputation of this organization has suffered immensely over the last two weeks.”

“In my earlier statement, I called on the membership to heal the wounds my hope is that we can once again look upon each other without mistrust or prejudice. Our Confederation has suffered and let us move toward a brighter future from this moment.”

Talk to anybody who doesn’t follow football and their opinion of football and the footballers who make a fortune from the sport couldn’t be lower. Engage with a sceptic and the levels of disgust levelled towards the game and those that inhabit it couldn’t be greater. The World Cup and England ’s embarrassing display has brought this ill feeling to the fore. The mass of high profile affairs has again tarnished the reputation of football and the footballers, from John Terry to Ashley Cole , from Peter Crouch to Wayne Rooney . Yet, whilst there have been plenty of articles written about the failings of professional footballers do we as a society ignore their positive contributions? From charity work to mentoring, perhaps some footballers aren’t the devil incarnate.

One case that has highlighted the positive contribution that footballers can create is that of the inspirational Jack Marshall . Jack Marshall is five years old and has been suffering from a severe case of cancer, he is an avid Manchester United fan and football has been something of a relief for him during his times of hardship. He has not been ignored by the footballing community with his Twitter page accumulating just shy of 40,000 followers. Furthermore, it has not just been the fans that have taken Jack Marshall into their hearts, footballers and journalists have been quick to offer their support and time.

Examples include a touching piece by Oliver Holt for the Mirror recently, meeting his heroes Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand , and even Jack Wilshere wearing a wrist band during games with Jack Marshall’s name on it. Don’t suggest that the footballing world doesn’t care. A large percentage of football fans have been immensely critical of Ferdinand and Rooney for perceived misdemeanours such as missed drug tests and swearing at a camera but these stars couldn’t have been more open to meeting and encouraging Jack. In fact, when Jack Marshall met Rooney he said that:

‘I’d like to kiss you, Wayne. I think you are the best footballer in the world.’

Furthermore, football players do plenty of charity work which contradicts the horribly negative persona they have been tarnished with. Arsenal FC has spent the year raising money for Centrepoint, the largest youth homeless charity, all year with the aim of gaining £500,000 for the charity. There has been a large level of interaction between the club and the homeless young people yet large numbers of the public would be wholly unaware of these positive actions. Another area in which the club has excelled in its charitable contributions has been that of Bob Wilson’s bike ride to raise money for cancer and his Willow Foundation charity founded in 1999.

Charitable contributions and the foundation of charities is not simply for the clubs, much maligned footballers such as Craig Bellamy and Didier Drogba have created their own charities. Drogba in fact set up a charity in 2007 to offer much needed support for education and health projects in his beloved Africa. This is a man who has cultivated a reputation in the sport for poor sportsmanship, and primarily having a tendency to take a dive. Yet as we can see here, outside of the sport he is an incredibly generous and amicable man.

In conclusion I would argue that footballers don’t get the credit they deserve. As we have looked at throughout this article the players don’t hesitate in getting involved for good causes, such as Wilshere, Ferdinand and Rooney for Jack Marshall. Some players go a step further and found their own charities such as Drogba and Bellamy. Talk to any casual observer and footballers are only second to the devil in terms of evil, but perhaps if we delve a little deeper we will discover that perhaps footballers aren’t quite so bad.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Read more of George McNeil’s articles at This is Futbol

[divider]

Create your free online surveys with SurveyMonkey, the world’s leading questionnaire tool.

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini has stated his desire to bring both Sergio Aguero and Samir Nasri to Eastlands.The Italian believes Argentina forward Aguero could be the ideal replacement for the unsettled Carlos Tevez and has not been shy in announcing his interest in Arsenal’s Nasri, either.

Atletico Madrid star Aguero put football’s biggest clubs on alert after revealing his intentions to leave the La Liga club, and is set to make a decision on his future after playing for Argentina in the Copa America.

Atletico’s rivals Real Madrid look to be City’s biggest competition in securing the 23-year-old’s signature, with the player reportedly open to a move within Spain or to England.

Mancini believes Aguero would be a perfect fit at the English Premier League club: “At the moment I am waiting because if we lose Carlos, Aguero is a player that can play for Manchester City because he is young, because he is a good player like Carlos, he can score a lot of goals and can play with Mario (Balotelli), with Edin (Dzeko),” Mancini told Sky Sports News.

“It is probably yes, (we will make a bid). I think in this moment we only have to wait.”

The former Inter boss also made no secret of his desire to bring in France midfielder Nasri as he continues to stall on a new contract at Arsenal.

“Samir is under contract with Arsenal. Also, for Samir it depends on many things,” Mancini said.

“I hope that we can buy because we need other players and I hope that this player can arrive before the end of the month.”

City’s Premier League rivals Chelsea appear set to sign Genk goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois after the Belgian club released a statement on Saturday.

Chelsea reportedly plan to immediately loan out the highly rated 19-year-old, but it will not be back to Genk as had been originally mooted.

Belgian First Division champions Genk claim Courtois pushed for the transfer – at a value of around nine million euros – to be completed.

A statement on Genk’s official website read: “Genk have done everything in its power to persuade the player and his representatives that he should stay in Genk but this did not work out.”

“After Courtois did not turn up to a meeting this morning during the build up to the match against Lyon, Genk had no other choice but to accept the bid from Chelsea, which is the biggest it has ever received for any one player.”

Real Madrid’s star-studded team have landed in Los Angeles for their pre-season tour of the United States.The La Liga giants are staying in Beverly Hills and will have their first training session on Tuesday at the UCLA campus in Westwood.

Real will use the campus as their headquarters for the next two weeks to prepare for a series of friendlies.

Their schedule includes a match against the LA Galaxy on Saturday before facing Mexican side Chivas Guadalajara in San Diego on July 20th.

Jose Mourinho’s side are hoping to regain the La Liga title having lost out to arch rivals Barcelona for the past three years.

In an effort to overhaul the Catalans, manager Jose Mourinho has added Fabio Coentrao, Hamit Altintop, Nuri Sahin, Raphael Varane, and Jose Callejon to his squad.

Mourinho has stated that he wants to sign another striker, with Sergio Aguero from Atletico Madrid and Neymar from Brazilian outfit Santos both linked.

Madrid will travel to Germany, England and China before they embark on their La Liga campaign.

In his weekly column for the Sun, former Arsenal legend, Ian Wright wrote: “Star players set to leave, barely any new signings, injuries to top players and a seriously tough batch of opening fixtures. I’m fed up of talking about Arsenal with a negative vibe but it looks like dark days are ahead.”

He added: “Yet it seems Wenger’s revolution has ground to a halt. Now I fear he may end up walking away.” So is Wright correct to worry about Wenger’s future at Ashburton Grove?

Let’s have a look at the current situation that has got Wright to come out with this. It sounds like Fabregas’s transfer to Barcelona is all but done and that Nasri will be swiftly following him out of the door to join rivals Manchester City as the club want to cash in on a player unwilling to sign a new contract. Already the club have lost Gael Clichy to City while Emmanuel Eboue and Nicklas Bendtner’s time at the Emirates appear to be at an end. The summer arrivals have thus far been nominal with only Gervinho, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Carl Jenkinson coming in. So it understandable to see such a bleak short-term future at the Emirates for Wenger.

However it is too easy to be negative about the new season and about Wenger’s future. It has been obvious all summer that Cesc was going to leave so he must have found a ready-made replacement with Juan Mata and Eden Hazard – two names that have been continuously linked to the club.

[ad_pod id=’unruly’ align=’right’]

As Arsenal’s longest serving manager, Wenger is going into his fifteenth season in charge of the club and in that time he has had his ups and downs. He has signed a three-year contract until 2014 and I expect him to see it out as why would he leave the club he has helped build, not just on the field but off it?

Just because he has ended up with a weakened team does not mean he will just walk away. If Fergie can get away with rebuilding about four new teams during his time at Old Trafford, why can’t Wenger, especially if he thinks it will benefit the club in the long term?

Players like Wilshere, Ramsey, Chamberlain, Gervinho, are at the Emirates for the long term and this can only be a positive thing. Scott Dann is close to signing and he might at long last be the solution to the shaky centre-back position, although undoubtedly Arsenal fans will criticise the signing.

I don’t think Arsenal are too far off Man United in challenging for the title particularly if they can keep the main players fit while finding suitable replacements for Cesc and Samir and then securing a safe central defender. If the fans get behind Wenger and the team then maybe it could be better season than expected.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

This sort of quote is typical of Ian Wright’s pedestrian punditry where he makes ridiculous comments to cause controversy, can anyone apart from him see Wenger walking away just because Fabregas is going and Nasri is likely to follow him?

Sometimes a club needs freshening up especially after six years without a trophy and I think this will only benefit the club in the future; sometimes you have to move backwards to move forwards and I am convinced Wenger will be around for a long time to come yet.

Everybody loves it when a great player returns to their former club. The fans affectionately remember the glory years of old and expect the player to bring the same success with him second time round. The player thinks the setting can rekindle his talent and take him back to former heights.

It feels like a good idea all round, but by and large players aren’t quite as good as the first time. There are of course exceptions, great players who’ve come back and added to their previous legend, players such as Peter Beardsley at Newcastle or Ian Rush at Liverpool. But this list is not about successes, this list is far more concerned with the players who should never have come back. Players who should have resisted the wave of nostalgia that swept over them.

Some of these players are greats, and their return was not a complete disaster but just an unnecessary extra, a softening of the legend they left at the first attempt. Others just didn’t work out at all the second time round. In every case though there is an element of something lost, the feeling that this second spell need never have happened for both club and player.

Click on Tony Cottee to unveil the top 10

Bolton entertains Norwich City at the Reebok this weekend and you can watch the action in style, courtesy of another Football FanCast giveaway. We have teamed up once again with the good people of 188Bet who are providing an executive box for 10 people for Saturday’s game.

Both teams were on the wrong end of defeats at the weekend with Owen Coyle’s side the latest side to face the wrath of the Champions’ strike force that tore apart their defence at will. The result in fairness wasn’t a fair reflection of the play, but Bolton will be determined to get a positive result against the Premier League new boys.

Paul Lambert will also feel that the results haven’t mirrored the Canaries efforts so far this season and the Scot will be determined to see his Norwich side register their first win of the season. It promises to be a classic and the perfect fixture for your very own Premier League Box experience.

To enter the prize draw for one of the 5 pairs of places in the Executive Box then sign up to 188BET to be in with the chance for Saturday’s big giveaway.

The competition closes at 11:59pm on Thursday 15th of September so as long as you sign up and make your bet before then you’ll have a chance of winning. So sign up, place your bets and keep your fingers crossed! You be watching Bolton v Norwich in ultimate style in just under a week’s time.

Click on the banner below and sign up to be in with a chance in this week’s prize draw

[divider]

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

[divider]

Although always an underlying issue in the game, even in 2011, the issue of racism within football has reared its ugly head recently with a passion. Not only have we had to contend with allegations of racial abuse by crowds, but also by opposition players during games. Despite massive efforts with campaigns such as ‘kick it out’ in the game, the problem does not seem to be going away and is arguably getting worse once again – or just more publicity on an issue that has been going on for years.

It is a sad fact that in the top European Leagues, racism is something that is more prominent than in the Premier League, with Roberto Carlos having a banana thrown at him in the Russian league, and players in Italy and Spain suffering torrents of abuse at the hands of the crowds. As Ashley Cole and SWP will testify, monkey chants are a favourite of supporters.

Whilst UEFA and FIFA have taken action against teams for the behaviour of their supporters, albeit with a paltry fine or on the rare occasion playing behind closed doors, at least they are attempting to cut this out. More clearly needs to be done on this scale with points deductions and playing behind closed doors for an extended period of time becoming what should be the standard punishment for racial abuse in the crowds directed at players.

Where there is little effort from governing bodies to eradicate such abuse however is when it is alleged that a player from the opposition team has made a racial slur to another player.

[ad_pod id=’unruly’ align=’right’]

It would be hard to forget the ‘mono’ ‘mucho morro’ incident that marred the Classico semi-final in the Champions League, with footage seemingly showing that Barcelona’s Busquets had called left back Marcelo what translates as a monkey. Real complained to UEFA yet they felt all Busquets had said was ‘you’ve got a nerve’. In such a highly fraught game, that is about as likely as Mad Mario staying inside on Bonfire night.

Again in La Liga the issue has come to the fore surrounding a Barcelona player – this time Cesc Fabregas who is alleged to have racially abused Sevilla’s Freddie Kanoute. This may go some way to explaining the bizarre loss of control displayed by the striker at the end of the game, yet Fabregas has made strong denials of making such a slur.

The issue in Spain is worse than in the Premier League crowd wise, as here it is virtually unheard of for crowds to chant in such a way, yet the problem of players using racist taunts is still a huge one.

Manchester United captain Patrice Evra has made a formal complaint over the behaviour and comments of Luis Suarez, and the FA are currently investigating if England captain John Terry was guilty of similar behaviour in the game against QPR.

The fact that John Terry, captain of our country, is accused of such an issue speaks volumes, and the problem goes to the very highest level of the game. It initially appeared that Terry and Ferdinand were involved in a misunderstanding, with JT issuing a denial and saying he was merely repeating a comment Ferdinand accused him of making – claiming he had not. Ferdinand however was unaware of such a conversation between himself and Terry, and only became aware of the allegations after the match.

No matter who is being accused of making such a comment – player, pundit or manager, the sanctions, if the person in question is found guilty, should be of the very highest nature. The issue is actually finding them guilty in the first place.

Continue reading on PAGE TWO…

This is something that governing bodies seemingly shy away from unless there is indisputable evidence – pundit Ron Atkinson being caught live on TV would be an example of this – yet when coach Luis Aragones of Spain infamously called Thierry Henry a negro de mierda, the RFEF were fined one day’s wages by UEFA. Such a pathetic stance on such a deplorable comment speaks volumes about the way UEFA view such comments, and their reluctance to find players guilty of similar accusations is a major reason why this is common place in the game of football.

The FA are just as guilty of this, with a classic example being when Everton’s Lescott and Howard claimed to have heard Newcastle player Emre using the N word towards Joseph Yobo; yet after complaining to the FA they stated they felt just as on trial as Emre was, and that the whole process left them ‘thoroughly disillusioned’ (Guardian).

Such a reaction by the FA and the way the complaining party is made out the be lying is something that cannot be allowed to continue, as this will prevent players from coming forward, and leave them thinking ‘what is the point?’ It also gives the impression to offending players that they are able to say such comments and face little or no sanctions.

[ad_pod id=’unruly-2′ align=’right’]

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

A point to ponder is that of Carlos Tevez’ rumoured lawsuit for defamation of character against manager Roberto Mancini. Should the player proceed and win, thus setting a very dangerous precedent, players accused of racism could easily then launch a counter complaint and possible lawsuit citing that the accusing player is guilty of defamation of character. This, coupled with the FA’s seeming reluctance to find players accused of such slurs guilty, could well see the increase of racially abusive comments and in turn players refusing to make complaints about them.

This is something that cannot be allowed to happen, and despite massive efforts being made with the ‘kick it out’ and ‘show racism the red card’ campaigns, more could be done, especially with regards to insults from fellow players. As Robert Earnshaw said, the maximum punishment possible should be thrown at the offending player, as racial abuse between players is as ‘bad as any offence in the game’.

Yes it is true that efforts have been made, and successfully in some cases to eradicate racial abuse from the game, especially in English football, but further effort is needed. From a continental perspective, a great deal more needs to be done, not only with regards to insults between players, but chanting from crowds during games.

The only solution is for FIFA, UEFA and the Football Associations of individual countries to clamp down as hard as humanly possible on such allegations, and continue the work being done with ‘kick it out’ and similar campaigns, and should individual players be found guilty of slurs of a racist connotation, lengthy bans, stripped captaincies and hefty fines should be incurred. The possibility of points deductions should not be ruled out either. Only then can we being to truly eradicate such disgraceful behaviour from the game.

[divider]

The Football App That Pays You Cash![ad_pod id=’qs-1′ align=’center’]

When Sir Alex Ferguson mentioned a fortnight ago that he believed that TV companies had got football coverage on the cheap, there weren’t many people who failed to agree with the United boss’ view. They have got it on the cheap pure and simple, but only when you are talking about the bigger clubs.

News breaking this morning that Liverpool is thinking of breaking away and securing their own TV rights has brought a mixed response within the media. Liverpool are certainly not doing anything different to what was discussed over 20yrs ago, before the Premier League first struck its deal with Sky. The likes of Tottenham and Manchester United were championing the idea that clubs should be in a position to negotiate their own set fees for games with the TV networks. In principle it is hard to argue against the reasons behind it, but they were subsequently outvoted in favour of an equal distribution among all clubs. The consequence of that decision proved positive in my eyes and has helped make the Premier League the most marketable and exciting league in Europe. You have to wonder how competitive La Liga would be if a similar structure was in place. Barcelona and Real Madrid highlight the sheer gulf in the Spanish league – a similar scenario to what would happen in England should other clubs look to follow Liverpool’s suit. There is already a gap (largely down to Champions League revenues), but it is one that will grow ever bigger.

I don’t blame Liverpool for looking to flex their muscles here. It is not them being greedy, but the simple fact that football is an industry where revenues are being swallowed up by transfer fees and high wages, therefore the need for clubs to look at other possible ways to generate income is the high priority. UEFA’s new fair play ruling has ensured that clubs are in no position to compromise and looking after their own affairs is of paramount importance. While clubs back in the early 90s were happy to ensure some form of equality, the ridiculous rulings of Platini will actually have the opposite effect of its original intention and will actually destabilise the domestic leagues even further – I mean could a club like Wigan or Fulham actually command the type of fees Liverpool or United would get for a LIVE broadcast? The rich will ultimately get richer while the smaller clubs will subsequently get poorer.

[divider]

Win tickets to Legends Lounge to see the titanic clash at Anfield